LITTLEFORK — It took more than a dozen first responders to extract five teenagers from a mangled car outside of the Littlefork-Big Falls School Wednesday.
The scene may have looked and sounded real, but it was set up by school officials, the Koochiching County Sheriff’s Office, and the Littlefork first response team, to bring awareness to the dangers of distracted or impaired driving.
The scenario involved L-BF students Mitch Nelson, Jacob Franz, Cassy Hawkinson, Tyler Vork, and Gus Campos wedged inside a crushed vehicle. As the group’s classmates gathered around the “accident” scene, Hawkinson raced around the car frantically screaming and crying for help.
“Call 911,” Bruce Grotberg, captain of the Littlefork Fire Department and fire investigator for the Koochiching County Sheriff’s Office, instructed to a student he selected from the crowd. “Tell them you’ve just seen a horrific accident.”
Within minutes, the sound of sirens filled the air to signal the arrival of the Littlefork Fire Department and Littlefork Ambulance. It didn’t take long for the smiles and jokes that were being passed around by the students to turn into wide-eyed realizations of how real the set-up was.
As fire fighters used the jaws of life to pry the vehicle apart, Grotberg circled the students telling them Nelson, the driver, had been drinking at a party and got behind the wheel of the car. Grotberg then asked the group, “Do you see how fast things can happen and how serious they can be?”
First responders treated the mock accident as they would an actual event — right down to hauling crash victims away on stretchers in the ambulance.
Grotberg explained the scenario didn’t have any of the students wearing seat belts. As a result of their actions, one passenger was paralyzed for life, one was dead, and Nelson was charged with vehicular manslaughter and faced several years in prison.
“I encourage you to think before you are in a similar situation,” Grotberg said to the students. “If you think we’re making this up, we’re not.”
One student told The Journal the scenario was in fact “very real.”
She explained she had been involved in a tragic car accident in 2010, and had to “hold back” when watching the mock event.
“That was exactly how it was,” she said of Wednesday’s set-up.
Once the “victims” had been extracted from the car, students and the response team gathered in the gym for a follow-up discussion.
“Look how many people it took to cut out one mistake,” Grotberg noted. “If a person is drinking or texting while driving, this should show you the serious repercussions of your actions.”
Minnesota State Patrol Trooper Gary Harms encouraged students to consider how they would feel if a similar accident involved their family and friends.
“You all need to make good decisions,” he said.
Grotberg echoed Harms, “Just make good decisions today and you’ll be here tomorrow.”
